NZ Breakers

Behind 19 points apiece from Barry Brown Jr and their Aussie point guard the Breakers drew first blood in the Aussie hoops league's showpiece series.

The Kings had a lot to thank Simon’s 13 first-half points for as they battled to stay in the contest. “To hold them to 87 when they average close to 100, it was good defence by the boys.” Most importantly the league-best Breakers defence kept league MVP Xavier Cooks to just 8 points on 2-of-10 shooting, while all-NBL point guard Derrick Walton Jr managed just 12 points and 6 assists. They also stuck to their scout superbly to shackle most of the home threats. But there’s a reason his home-town Brisbane Bullets, the deep-pocketed Perth Wildcats and well-resourced South East Melbourne Phoenix are all in the market for free-agent-to-be McDowell-White. And where there’s a Will McDowell-White there is a 1-0 lead in the Australian NBL’s championship series.

The New Zealand Breakers have taken a 1-0 lead in the five-game Australian NBL finals series after beating the Sydney Kings 95-87 at Qudos Bank Arena on ...

With a 1-0 lead in the series, the Breakers will head back to New Zealand with plenty of confidence as they host the Kings for Game 2 on Sunday at Spark Arena, Auckland. Will McDowell-White led the way for the Breakers with 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to give the Breakers a healthy advantage as they take the series back home to New Zealand for Game 2 on Sunday night. A lead of 54-43 at half-time carried through to the final buzzer as the Breakers dominated the court to beat their opponents on their home turf.

The Auckland club will head back to a soldout Spark Arena for Game Two on Sunday.